Hypocrisy

Tweet It always hurts when organizations lie. Lying hurts the organization, the employees, the organization’s partners, the organization’s prospects, and most importantly, lying hurts the organization’s constituents. When an organization does something that sparks a”‘reputation crisis”, the absolute worst way to respond is to lie. As the reputation crisis of the Susan J. Komen Foundation […]

Tweet When it comes to discriminating against women, you’d think that only sexist organizations would be involved. But did you ever imagine that meritocracies would encourage managers to discriminate against women? Research conducted by Emilio Castilla and Stephen Benard, published last year in Administrative Science Quarterly, documents a disturbing dynamic that the authors call “The […]

Tweet What would you think about an organization that intentionally mislead its potential clients? – That advertised itself as providing a range of products or services, when in fact it only offered one? – That presented itself as being here to “help you”, when in reality its sole purpose is to fulfill its own mission, […]

Tweet Some people actually believe(d) that BP was making an authentic effort to move “Beyond Petroleum”. I was quite surprised to discover this early in June, in conversation with an organizational change consultant who specializes is sustainability change. This consultant explained that, in contrast to other energy companies that he had worked with, BP was […]

Tweet On The Colbert Report , it’s called "The Word".Â In Web 2.0, it’s called "transparency ". Historically, it’s called "telling the truth". As I was working on a more serious post about Zappos , I could not push aside my annoyance at the contradiction between the way the Zappos layoff has been discussed in […]

Tweet Special Halloween Edition In the spirit of Halloween, a time of costumes, treats and tricks, I’m inspired to start a list of ways that organizations dress themselves up so that they appear to be what they are not. Some of these terms and concepts are familiar. Some terms I’ve invented (4, 5, 6) and […]

Tweet The McCain Campaign has hired Obama supporters to work as as "paid volunteers ."Â As reported by Tom Baldwin in the UK Times, and picked up by The Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, the McCain Campaign is paying temp workers $10 an hour to go door to door handing out absentee ballot requests. […]

Tweet Sarah , Sarah , Sarah . Just when I’m ready to move on to other topics, you serve up yet another opportunity to understand organizations and authenticity. This time, the lessons are all about image, and the relationship between how we present ourselves and who we really are. If Palin’s wardrobe upgrade had been […]

Tweet What hurts more: (a) An offensive organizational action or (b) an offensive action that displays inauthenticity? I vote for (b). An offensive action that displays inauthenticity hurts more than an action that is simply offensive.Â Why? Because an offensive inauthentic action represents a broken promise. When an organization makes a claim to be a […]

Tweet Of all the current conversations about authenticity and organizations, none is more vibrant- and confused- than the conversation that mingles authenticity, authentic brands and authentic organizations. The Harvard Business Review March 2008 issue has a case by David Weinberger about the fictional Hunsk Engines, entitled “Authenticity: Is it Real or is it Marketing?“This case […]

Help to Spread the Word…

I am an organizational consultant, change advocate, and organizational identity/reputation scholar with a PhD in leadership & organizations. I research, write about, and consult with organizations on the relationships between organizational identity, actions, and purpose. I teach Technology Management, part-time, at Stevens Institute of Technology.
My current research focuses on how social technologies in the workplace can drive organizational change, generate meaning, and catalyze purpose. See the About page for my bio.